Freedom is a relative concept. Compared to other states in the US, how does your state rank in terms of various aspects of freedom? George Mason’s Mercatus Center has produced a chart that ranks states on different measures of freedom.
US
Trading Off to Good Start
As some readers know, there is a sister site to this one called “Trading to Armageddon.” The premise of the site is that the risks of being in markets, even if you believe that Armageddon is coming, is less than the risk of being out of markets. The first quarterly results are in from the momentum trading strategy. As reported [...]
Manny Pacquiao — Tax Expert
It happens slowly and in ways never imagined. High US tax rates are destructive to the economy. Anyone with material income is changing his behavior, whether it is with respect to current earnings, investment income or even emigration. These microeconomic decisions, people altering their behavior to adjust or offset the pain government wants to inflict on them, is what makes [...]
The US As A Carnival Cruise
James Quinn has come up with a near-perfect analogy for what is happening to the US. He likens it to the recent debacle associated with Carnival Cruise lines. There is quite a similarity. Here is an outtake from his article “Adrift at Sea:” Carnival Cruise Line is trying to buy off the passengers with refunds and $500 bribes to keep [...]
Full Fund
The Full Fund is available only to Premium Members. It selects from the largest universe of ETFs (111) and selects the most ETFs. Two portfolios are generated — Large (L) and Small (S). The Large portfolio holds up to 14 ETFs. The Small portfolio holds up to seven ETFs. When markets are performing poorly, fewer ETFs will be selected and a [...]
Is Big Brother Emerging?
Reader NII comments on recent government activities, implying they may be ready to act in some sort of big way. I will admit that things do not look right and that we should be worried: NII: Hmm. And you have huge amounts of ammo in hands of govt agency AND tests with military in towns like Miami, Houston, Minneapolis, East [...]
More Signs Of Tyranny
According to David Bard, the civil unrest that many of us fear is almost upon us..The US military has been training for this event. The following excerpt is from Mr. Bard's article: I spoke with a high-ranking, military source in DHS. Preferring to remain unnamed for obvious reasons, he told me, “DHS and DOD are conducting desensitizing exercises all across the [...]
Gold — Who Needs It?
Rumors that the US has leased out much of its gold have been rampant for several years. Whether that is true or not I have no definitive information although it does seem plausible. There is enough smoke around this issue to suggest that a fire exists somewhere. This behavior would be consistent with the dying-empire behavior that prevails in the management of [...]
Capital Flight
Capital has no nationality. It goes where it is treated best. As social welfare states grab for more and more money, they make it harder for capital and labor to be productive. At some point the coexistence of the welfare state with the productive sector becomes so strained that the productive sector either cuts back on effort and/or moves outside the [...]
Reality Is Coming
We are on the precipice of enormous financial and economic change. It is not change for the good, especially for the United States. Excesses and mis-allocated resources of several generations are about to be exposed as modern industrial nations sink deeper into the economic hole they have dug for themselves. The purging of these economic mistakes will be painful, could [...]
Civilization As A Toilet Flush
Few Romans recognized the slow death of the Roman Empire. History, short of major wars, moves slowly. Change is not easily discernable on a day-by-day or even year-by-year basis. Our lifespans are long enough to enable us to see change over its duration, but usually not long enough to see its full implications. Countries rise and fall over many generations. Any one generation [...]
Full Portfolio
Changes to the Full Portfolio have occurred since this write-up. All portfolio pools and selection processes undergo periodic review. The addition of new ETFs is one reason. Refinement of screening techniques is another. There is an on-going search to improve results. These results no longer reflect the current composition of the Full Portfolio or the algorithm which makes selections. The [...]